Marines in 16 additional military occupational specialties are eligible to make lateral moves into the Corps’ growing cyber security community, a career change that could come with a meaty cash bonus.

Officials hope to fill 63 cyber security technician slots between now and next October, and will expand eligibility to about 1,500 first-term Marines up for re-enlistment in fiscal 2014, said Maj. Shawn Haney, a spokeswoman for Manpower and Reserve Affairs in Quantico, Va.

Sergeants who successfully convert to the 0689 MOS can earn a bonus worth $60,750, the largest re-up incentive offered this year.

■Possess a general technical score of 110 or higher on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.

■Be a sergeant or above. However, “exceptionally qualified corporals may be considered on a case-by-base basis,” Haney said. Corporals qualified to lat move into the 0689 MOS could land a bonus worth $55,250. Those interested should contact their command’s career planner.

■Be eligible for a secret security clearance. Some assignments require top secret or top secret sensitive compartmented information security-clearance eligibility.

The Corps’ 0689 Marines are responsible for all facets of ensuring Marine Corps information systems are secure and protected. Among other things, they work to detect network intrusions, investigate them and track down the attackers.

Senior leaders have made it a priority to grow Marine Corps Forces Cyber Command, which is based in Columbia, Md. The focus has been to recruit staff noncomissioned officers and officers in fields whose skills translate well into cyber security.

The command is still developing a formal selection and training pipeline, and working to not only recruit but retain Marines who possess expert knowledge. The service has to compete with the private sector, where many cyber security experts can easily net six-figure salaries.

For those who wish to remain in uniform, a career in Cyber Command could offer some job security despite the Corps’ active-duty drawdown, which aims to reduce end strength to 174,000 by the end of 2017. Marine officials declined to discuss specifics about force structure plans, but said the Corps’ cyber community is projected to grow even as the active-duty force shrinks.

Previously, Marine officials have said the force could reach 800 personnel.